Dark God
by mortalone
Summary: [AU] The sealing goes wrong and a being is created so terrifying that the Kyuubi is scared. Enter the Dark God, a being who aims to make Naruto's and Kyuubi's power its own. [Hiatus, see profile for details]
1. The Faulty Sealing

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. It is owned by Kishimoto Masashi and published by Jump Comics.

**Warning:** This story is rated T for violence, language and potential sexual situations.

**Feedback:** You can review anonymously. Please feel free to give me your input through review or private message. I read all the feedback I get. I only ask that you do not make demands and do not flame.

"Character speech"

'_Character thoughts'_

"**Demon or large summon speech or jutsu name announced"**

'_**Demon or large summon thoughts or jutsu name thought'**_

XXXXX

**Dark God**

**Chapter 1 – The Faulty Sealing**

XXXXX

'_**It's terrifying. There are many words an eighty thousand year old demon would use to describe what it is like to be sealed in a newborn human, but terrifying should not be one of them. Something happened when I was sealed. I have never been sealed before, but I know what it should be like.**_

'_**Naruto... I pray that some day I will be able to save you, because if I can't…'**_

XXXXX

_BOOM._

The explosion of wood and cement rocked the Konoha plaza. Naruto's Anbu guard had only left to use the bathroom when a villager with a vendetta tried to enact his "justice" against Naruto. The result was terrifying.

The body of the villager was flung out through a cement wall and into the middle of the street. Already the villager was dying from the broken bones and internal bleeding and there would be no way to save him. Wood splinters littered the area as a wooden table had also been flung out with the villager.

From out of the hole in the side of the building stepped a four year old Naruto, but this was not the Naruto everyone knew. His appearance was unchanged except for his eyes, which were now completely black. No irises, no whites, no pupils, just darkness. Surrounding Naruto was a thick black chakra that made the air feel heavy. Its aura and oppressive weight were even more sinister than that of the Kyuubi who attacked four years earlier.

In the middle of Naruto's chest was a spot of dried blood and a tear in his shirt where he was clearly stabbed with a knife, though already the wound seemed to have healed without leaving a scar.

Shinobi rushed onto the scene with orders to clear away civilians and wait for the Hokage. They need not have waited long; he came almost instantly.

Inside Naruto's mind he was drawn to the pleading screams of a female voice. **"Come, come, COME,"** the voice yelled. Naruto found himself in front of a giant cage containing a red haired woman who looked to be in her mid twenties. She had red eyes that glowed with power, though otherwise she looked normal – astoundingly beautiful, but normal.

Right away Naruto asked, "Who are you? And where are we?"

"**There isn't time to explain,"** the woman said.

Naruto simply replied, "Oh," but Kyuubi felt something wrench at her heart from the sorrow in his voice.

'_**Naruto, just being inside you I can tell that I have changed. If I could take it back, I would never have attacked Konoha.'**_** "I'm going to give you power and this may hurt a little, okay?"**

Naruto simply nodded in reply.

"**Promise me you'll visit,"** Kyuubi added.

How was he supposed to visit if he didn't know where he was? "But I don-"

"**Ask your Hokage."**

"Hokage?"

Kyuubi bit back her frustration and her anger – she wasn't used to dealing with kids – and replied calmly, **"Your Jii-san"** (grandfather).

Naruto's demeanor suddenly lightened as he thought of the old Hokage, "Okay!"

Inside his mindscape, red chakra suddenly engulfed Naruto.

In the outside world, there was borderline pandemonium. There was nothing the shinobi could do unless they knew that Naruto was alive and that "it" hadn't taken over. All they did know was that "it" was ranting about it's power.

"**Fool,"** 'Naruto' said staring impassively at the battered body of the would-be assassin. **"You cannot get rid of me!"**

The almost dead villager through ragged and dying breaths spat out "K-Kyuu…bi."

"**Hn, the Kyuubi is weak. Her chakra is so thin, so weak…"** 'Naruto' replied, holding op his right hand. Black chakra engulfed it. **"**_**My **_**chakra is Dark Chakra, the chakra of the gods. My chakra is so thick it actually becomes weaker through elemental re-composition."** 'Naruto' chuckled.

Through trembles a chuunin managed to throw out the question, "Who are you?"

Black eyes turned on the chuunin. **"I don't have a name."** 'Naruto' then turned his attention towards the Hokage.** "Hn, seems like my time is up. Know this: you can kill Naruto, you can kill Kyuubi, but you cannot kill me. Take good care of Naruto, for some day his power along with the Kyuubi's will be mine."**

Suddenly red chakra shot out of Naruto and the black disappeared from his eyes revealing red irises and slit pupils. Then the red chakra died down and Naruto's eyes turned blue before he promptly collapsed.

XXX Eight Years Later XXX

The class groaned as Iruka called out Team Seven. In short, the team was stacked – not to mention that most of the girls desired to be on "Sasuke-kun's" team.

Uchiha Sasuke was the rookie of the year. His scores on written tests were almost always among the top three; his scores in taijutsu were usually among the top two; his scores in ninjutsu and weapons throwing were consistently the highest in the class; he was among the top in ability to see through genjutsus; and finally, he was the last loyal bloodline genius of his clan. Though he didn't graduate early, he was considered to be a prodigy.

Uzumaki Naruto was one of the stronger students in the class. He was an enigma to most, possessing a goofy side that strived for attention and a serious side that was developing into a formidable shinobi. He lived in the Hokage's tower despite being of no relation to the Sandaime and everywhere Naruto went he was shadowed by an Anbu guard and none of the other children knew why.

His chakra control held him back, but at the same time, his stamina was by far the highest in the class. It was a mystery to the other students how good and at the same time how bad someone could be at ninjutsu and taijutsu. Naruto could perform several jounin level techniques including kinjutsu (forbidden techniques), yet it was a great difficulty for him to perform even an academy level **Bunshin** (clone). Naruto would spend many hours training his chakra control, but he struggled to improve – of course, the other students didn't realize that he had three different chakras mixing together somewhat unevenly. His physical ability allowed him to sometimes match Sasuke in taijutsu spars, but he fought without any particular style using strength and speed to make up for uncontrolled movements. His weapons throwing and genjutsu detection were both lousy as he had no form for throwing shuriken and he relied on Kyuubi to detect and dispel genjutsu, which she refused to do during academy training. On written tests he scored above average, but not amazingly high, often doing well in problem solving and poorly in recalling and reciting information.

Naruto's behavior was strange to say the least. He seemed interested in several different girls, but he only ever asked out one of them – Haruno Sakura. None of the other students knew why when in so far as they could tell he had an even bigger crush on the most popular girl in class, the beauty Ino. The truth was that of all the girls in the class, the only girl whose mother was accepting of the idea of their daughter having a relationship with Naruto was Sakura's mother, a piece of information that Naruto had deduced on his own through observation.

At times Naruto would pull pranks on people and it was a well known fact that the only teacher who would teach Naruto was Iruka; hence Iruka was the teacher for the same class year after year instead of passing his students off at the end of the year. It was not as if other teachers would scold Naruto – they would just avoid him as much as possible. Goofy Naruto was the class 'dobe' (dead last, failure); shinobi Naruto was a genius who even the arrogant Uchiha Sasuke thought of as an equal and potential rival. Sasuke had actually hoped to end up on the same team as Naruto, the only person who wasn't "guaranteed to hold me back."

The final member of the team was none other than Haruno Sakura. She was one of Sasuke's fan-girls, but while she acted like an idiot wherever Sasuke was concerned, she typically had the highest written test scores in the class. Even though she knew nothing other than academy techniques, her ninjutsu scored highly because of her excellent chakra control. Her genjutsu detection and dispelling abilities were also among the top in the class. Her weaknesses were physical – her strength, speed and stamina were all below average among the newly graduated kunoichi, and thus near the bottom of the class. Her only redeeming quality as far as taijutsu and weapons throwing were concerned was that her form was textbook perfect. Yet, she was almost dead last in spars because she had no ability for reading people's movements.

As the last of the teams were called out, the class rearranged itself into the teams with most of the girls trying to drag their teams as close to Sasuke as possible. He merely groaned before looking out the window. Sakura kept trying to get his attention while Naruto went into a meditative trance.

The jounin instructors were called in from outside in the hallway. The jounin of the Team One called out for his students. The jounin of Team Two followed his example. The jounin of Team Three stepped forward and then suddenly the attention of the class focused on the doorway where a puff of smoke appeared, revealing a silver-gray haired jounin with his hitai-ate covering his left eye. In his right hand was an orange book, _Icha Icha Paradise_. His cool entrance was followed by a simple, "Yo."

All of the other jounin stood there shocked. Asuma's cigar dropped out of his mouth and fell to the floor. "Kakashi… you're on time?"

Kakashi countered with, "Huh, is something wrong?" Every jounin in the room face faltered.

XXXXX

The three newly appointed gennin were sitting on the roof of the academy. In front of them their teacher sat lazily on the edge of the roof. "Why don't you guys tell me something about yourselves? Naruto, the Hokage wants to see you so why don't you go first?"

"Err, right," Naruto said, "the name's Uzumaki Naruto and I like ramen, training and a certain vixen." Inside Naruto, our favorite fox had the graciousness to blush. "I dislike people who are intolerant of others and I hate the color black because it reminds me of something…" Naruto's face suddenly gained a far away yet discernibly cold look. "My dreams… I have two dreams: to make my parents proud and my other dream is a secret."

"Alright," Kakashi replied in a lazy tone, not surprised by anything Naruto said. The other gennin were just wondering what was wrong with black. "You know me already and I'm sure you know your classmates by now so why don't you get going? The details for where we meet are on this printout," Kakashi said holding out a slip of paper. Naruto grabbed the paper and rushed off.

"Okay," Kakashi said, turning back to the two remaining gennin, "next?"

"My name's Uchiha Sasuke. There are few things I like and many things I don't like. I don't want to use the word dream, but I have an ambition. To resurrect my clan… And to kill a certain man."

Sakura blushed, thinking, _'He's so cool!'_

Kakashi had merely figured as much. "And now the girl."

Sakura quickly schooled herself as if she had been called upon in class. "I'm Haruno Sakura and the thing I like is… Well, the person I like is…" She blushed and looked over at Sasuke before continuing, "Um, should I say my dream for the future…?" Again she blushed before suddenly looking peeved, "The thing I dislike is Ino-pig. And my hobby is…" Once again she blushed.

Kakashi had the decency to look mildly embarrassed while thinking, _'Girls of this age are always more interested in love than ninjutsu.'_

"That's enough of that. Tomorrow we start formal duties, but before that the Hokage wants to meet with you two as well. The details for tomorrow and such are on these printouts. Later." With a poof of smoke, Kakashi disappeared.

XXXXX

Sasuke and Sakura arrived at the Hokage's office right as Naruto was leaving. Naruto flashed a sad smile at them but didn't say anything, instead walking down the hall towards the private living area in the Hokage tower. Sakura made to question him, but found herself stopped when Sasuke put his hand on her arm and shook his head.

"Ah, right on time. Come on in," the Hokage spoke in a grandfatherly way.

"Hokage-sama," Sakura asked, "Why did you want to speak with us and why did you meet Naruto separately?"

The Hokage puffed on his smoking pipe before answer. "Ah, that. There are a bunch of things I need to tell you, secrets that relate to… everything. First you must swear to me that you will never talk about what we discuss in this room to anyone. This is an S-class law that must never get in the wrong hands."

Sakura looked nervous, but followed Sasuke's example as he said, "I swear."

"Good," the Hokage said. "This secret starts twelve years ago when the Kyuubi attacked Konoha. You know that the Yondaime Hokage defeated the Kyuubi, but nobody has ever told you how. The answer is that he sealed it in his own son."

Both Sakura and Sasuke looked at the Hokage in shock. They were not even aware that the Yondaime had a son.

The Hokage took another puff on his pipe before continuing. "But something went wrong with the sealing that day. The technique the Yondaime used was a kinjutsu that summons Shinigami (the Death God) and sealed the Kyuubi in exchange for the Yondaime's soul. However, somehow a piece of the child's soul broke off and fused with a piece of Kyuubi's soul. This entity then fused with some of the Shinigami's chakra. Essentially, this third being inside the child's body is the makings of a god."

Both Sasuke and Sakura felt a sense of foreboding.

"That child, the son of Kazama Arashi and Myobu is none other than your teammate Uzumaki Naruto." Both Sakura and Sasuke were aghast. It seemed absurd to think that Naruto would have something like _that_ in him, yet it answered many questions. However, "There's more.

"We knew almost immediately that something went wrong with the sealing. The Council wanted to kill Naruto, but that could have potentially made things worse. The best we could hope for was that the entity would lay trapped and dormant inside Naruto. However, this was proven to not be the case when a villager tried to assassinate Naruto in the hopes of killing the Kyuubi as well. If Naruto dies, the Kyuubi will die as well, but this dark entity will be released, which would be far worse."

Worse than the Kyuubi? Why would they allow Naruto to become a shinobi and live such a dangerous life if it was so bad? Questions such as these raced through the minds of the newly appointed gennin.

"However, the longer Naruto lives, the stronger it becomes. Our only hopes are to either have Naruto re-absorb the entity or to find a way to erase it from existence. In either case, Naruto himself must become stronger to defeat the entity. It was for this reason that my student, Naruto's uncle Orochimaru became obsessed with studying higher powers in order to figure out how to stop it and save Naruto. Orochimaru began performing human experimentation even on children and… himself."

Both gennin looked mortified.

The Hokage once again puffed on his pipe before continuing. "It was for that reason that Orochimaru became a missing-nin. Regardless of the reason, experimenting on humans without their consent is not justified, and I tried to stop him.

"My other student, Jiraiya, discovered an organization that was ultimately responsible for the Kyuubi attack – an organization that is seeking to acquire power in any way it can. They are called Akatsuki, and this is where this story relates to you, Sasuke. Your brother Uchiha Itachi is a part of Akatsuki." Sasuke's head shot up at the mention of his brother's name and he clenched his fists.

"It is believed that the reason your brother massacred your clan because your father was friends and rivals with Kazama Arashi and took it upon himself to organize Naruto's security detail. It was even suggested at one point that Naruto should live at the Uchiha estate, but it was agreed that the safest place for him to live was right here in this tower. Itachi was placed in the Anbu by your father with the original intention of guarding Naruto and his secrets more closely after several major security leaks were discovered. Itachi, however, became obsessed with power and sought to attain it for himself. It is believed that he joined Akatsuki before he even left Konoha. We think that Shisui discovered this and confronted Itachi and was murdered and that your father discovered what Shisui had uncovered. We believe this in part because the same night of the massacre, Itachi attempted to abduct Naruto."

Sasuke clenched his fists harder, _'So that's why… Itachi… you betrayed the clan for power? You killed mom and dad because you want to become a god?'_

"The way you relate to this story, Sakura," Sakura's head perked up, but she was terrified of what she might hear, "is that Naruto grew up with a rotating group of carefully screened caretakers. The head caretaker was none other than your mother." Inwardly, Sakura sighed in relief. Outwardly, she could bring herself to do nothing other than nod.

"Arashi had three students, Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi, and Amai Rin. Your sensei Kakashi was chosen for three reasons: he is one of the strongest jounin in the village, he is one of the most familiar with this situation and knows all your families histories well, and when his best friend and teammate Obito died during the Great Shinobi War, Kakashi was given one of Obito's Sharingan eyes."

"Sharingan," Sakura questioned, "what's that?"

It was Sasuke who answered. "It is the Uchiha bloodline. It has four levels, each more powerful than the last. It allows you to predict and copy almost all techniques, see through genjutsus and even perform eye-based genjutsus without handseals."

"Amazing…" was all Sakura could bring herself to say. Had it been at any other moment she would have had hearts in her eyes.

The Hokage coughed before speaking again. "After it was discovered that the entity wants to someday take over Naruto, Amai Rin also left the village and became a missing-nin. She wrote a letter stating that she planned to return someday with a way to 'cure' Naruto.

"Those three, Orochimaru, Itachi and Rin are considered the highest level missing-nin in Konoha's history with the only possible exception of Uchiha Madara. Orochimaru was a once in a generation prodigy, Itachi was considered the greatest bloodline genius ever born in Konoha, and Rin is a medical genius rivaling Tsunade as well as a seal master whose only better in Konoha history was the Yondaime himself. In your journeys, you may encounter any of those three and while Orochimaru and Rin may have good intentions at heart for Naruto, it is unclear how they will act. Team Seven will not be sent on any missions outside of Konoha until I think you are ready to handle yourselves against chuunin at least.

"But there's one more thing. When Naruto's life is in danger, the entity will take over Naruto's body to defend him. You will know when this is happening if Naruto's eyes turn black and the chakra he uses becomes thick and black as well. Thankfully, the Kyuubi helps Naruto to control himself and prevent himself from being possessed. We are unsure, but we believe that the part of Kyuubi's soul that was lost to the fusion was the most evil part so you can trust the Kyuubi to try to help, but you should stay on your guard."

XXXXX

In a dark cave, nine figures gathered. "We have finally found a way to harness the power of the 'Dark God' by using the power of 'The Nine.'"

XXXXX

**AN: I completely came up with this plotline and wrote this chapter in the span of three hours. I am quite proud of that fact.**

**There may or may not be any pairings in this story. I haven't decided whether romance will be appropriate. For the time being this story will be Action/Adventure/Suspense, but that can change at a moment's notice. However, don't think that pairings are "open," because they definitely are not. It's more a question of whether or not I will actually develop the pairings I have in mind or leave them as "implied pairings."**

**As far as I know, this is a totally new take on Orochimaru, Itachi and Rin. I'm sure everybody has a bunch of questions about them. Answers will come in time. I don't want to kill the story by giving too much away.**

**Sorry Itachi fans, but he will be evil in this story. That much I will say. Everything the Hokage said about him is true – he desired power so he massacred his clan when they got in the way.**

**Still, there are some things I should answer…**

**Q and A.**

**Q: Why was Kakashi 'on time'?**

**A: You'll find out next chapter.**

**Q: What was meant by Akatsuki being responsible for the Kyuubi attack?**

**A: Hmm, you'll find that out soon too. However, it wasn't a genjutsu or anything like that. Simply put, the Kyuubi was evil and no longer is truly evil because of the soul splitting that occurred and because she has gained a new perspective. You'll see soon enough how Naruto changed her through a series of flashbacks that will be spread out over the coming chapters.**

**Q: How does Madara relate to this story?**

**A: Since I mentioned that name already, you can assume safely that you will hear it again. You'll find out some more next chapter and more still later.**

**Q: Why didn't Sasuke and Sakura know about their connections with Naruto?**

**A: You'll see next chapter that Sasuke kind of did. Or rather, he saw Naruto at the Uchiha compound several times, but all he knew was that his father was friends with Naruto's father and that Naruto was an orphan. Sakura didn't know because Naruto's caretakers were kept secret for security reasons. Basically, they were all civilians and if their identities were leaked, an enemy nin could pose as one of them and do something to Naruto. In fact, you'll find out more about that next chapter as well. I'm thinking the title for the next chapter will be "Questions Answered."**

**Q: Are Sasuke and Naruto rivals? Do they hate each other kind of like in canon?**

**A: They definitely don't hate each other but they aren't really friends. Naruto would like to be Sasuke's friend, but until now Sasuke has been too self-absorbed and brooding over Itachi. Now that Sasuke sees the bigger picture, he will open up to certain people that he considers "friends of the Uchiha." If he were to make Naruto an enemy, he'd essentially be spitting on his father's grave. But that doesn't mean they won't be rivals. Their relationship will be described as similar to the relationship their fathers had.**

**Q: Will Naruto be super strong?**

**A: No, he will of course be very strong at the end of the story and he has both the Kyuubi and the 'Dark God' to fall back on (but the latter he definitely will NOT want to rely on). That said, without relying on them, right now he is strong among the rookies but Sasuke is stronger for the time being. In his strong areas, Naruto is comparable, but Sasuke is more of a generalist.**

**Q: Was the inspiration for Naruto's image in the 'Dark God' transformation inspired by Ichigo's hollow from Bleach?**

**A: Yup, however, it is its own character, as you will see.**

**That's the end of Q and A for this chapter. The next update will be chapter 3 of Naruto of the Sharingan. It's almost fully written but I need to sort out some very important final elements and I have an exam on Thursday that I need to study for.**


	2. Memories

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. It is owned by Kishimoto Masashi and published by Jump Comics.

**Warning:** This story is rated T for violence, language and potential sexual situations.

**Feedback:** You can review anonymously. Please feel free to give me your input through review or private message. I read all the feedback I get. I only ask that you do not make demands and do not flame.

"Character speech"

'_Character thoughts'_

"**Demon or large summon speech or jutsu name announced"**

'_**Demon or large summon thoughts or jutsu name thought'**_

**Quick AN: While I didn't get many reviews, the ones I got were good. Before I move on with chapter 2, I want to clarify some points:**

**-Arashi is actually the brother in law, not the blood brother, of Orochimaru. Kazama Myobu, Arashi's wife, was the baby sister of Orochimaru. You'll see more about her later.**

**-Naruto knows about the "Dark God." They can actually interact in his mindscape since DG is just a fusion of a piece of Naruto's soul with a piece of Kyuubi's sould that has been tainted with the chakra of gods, which is too much for humans to bear. It's a separate entity living within him.**

**-Orochimaru will play a big role and you'll see him at the chuunin exams, but his role will be VERY different than in canon. Obviously he's not going to invade Konoha.**

**-Rin and Gaara will show up soon and I won't give anything away.**

**-This fic isn't a crossover though there may be some influences from other series. Most likely you'll see influences from Satan 666 (really good manga, definitely check it out, written by the younger twin brother of Kishimoto Masashi) and a bit of Bleach since DG was partially inspired by Ichigo's hollow.**

**-You'll find out more about Sasuke and Naruto on the same team in this chapter, but personally I've never liked the idea of automatically placing the top and bottom students on the same team. It doesn't make sense – teams should be built to complement each other.**

XXXXX

**Dark God**

**Chapter 2 – Memories**

XXX Flashback XXX

Uchiha Sasuke bolted towards the kitchen as his mother called out that dinner was ready. Uchiha Mikoto may have been a jounin of the village, but at home she acted more like a civilian housewife. And if housewives were measured by their ability to cook, Mikoto would be one of the top ranked housewives in the world.

It was odd, in a way, growing up with a mother was sweet, never losing her temper, a mother who enjoyed cooking and cleaning and was always supportive of her children who was feared in the shinobi world as a master assassin. A chef is supposed to be a support figure on the battlefield, a field-hand who tends to the basic needs of the unit. Mikoto had been a captain of the Anbu, a leader of one of the four Anbu divisions, and yet she was perhaps best known by her division for baking cookies. Needless to say, Sasuke's stomach always growled when his mother's food came to mind.

So quickly did Sasuke rush to the table that he barely noticed the blonde boy his same age standing next to his father. "Sasuke," Fugaku said to his son, "I'd like you to meet Uzumaki Naruto. His father was a friend of mine and one of the strongest shinobi I knew."

As Fugaku finished introducing Naruto, Itachi entered the room. Sasuke called out "Nii-san!" Itachi didn't bother to return Sasuke's greeting, instead he eyed Naruto. For a moment, Sasuke thought he saw a strange gleam enter his brother's eyes, but he dismissed it as a trick of the light.

For an hour the five of them ate dinner together. It was an unusual family dinner; Naruto seemed to have an effect on Sasuke's parents, particularly his father, which caused them to open up. Instead of the usual quiet, dinner was filled with conversations about shinobi training and certain jounin who seemed particularly weird, including a green-clad man Naruto had met who would shout things about the "fires of youth." Sasuke silently hoped to never meet said man.

When dinner ended, all but Itachi moved into the master bedroom of the Uchiha compound where they played Monopoly. Itachi had an important mission that would influence the clan's position in Konoha. Despite that, Fugaku seemed surprisingly unconcerned, simply saying that he would "expect Itachi to perform well."

It was one of the few times that Sasuke ever saw his father smile or laugh, let alone "play" anything. Sasuke almost felt ashamed that he was jealous of Naruto's ability to make his father do that, but all jealousy was lost at the end of the night when Fugaku turned to his son and said, "Naruto reminds me of his father just like how I see myself in you." It would be the most complimentary thing Fugaku ever said to Sasuke.

XXX End Flashback XXX

Sasuke stared down at the floor boards that he sat on when they played Monopoly together with an almost psychotic interest, clenching and unclenching his fists. The master bedroom was left relatively untouched since the massacre. The Monopoly set still rested on a shelf of his parents' bookcase, drawing Sasuke's attention to it.

Slowly, Sasuke walked over to it, the floorboards groaning under weight felt for the first time in years. He reached out with trembling hands that dusted it off, opening it up for the first time in six years. He was surprised when he found a letter addressed to him.

_Sasuke,_

_There is a commotion outside the house. Your father is rallying the clan, but a lot of people are dying. Just in case something bad happens, I want you to know that your father and I are proud of you. Continue to make us proud and don't follow in your brother's footsteps. I must go help now._

_Love,_

_Mom_

Sasuke's fist holding the letter clenched, crumpling the paper. His parents knew that Itachi was attacking, so why couldn't they stop him? How come the Hokage didn't help? For years all Sasuke cared about was revenge, but now that he knew Itachi's motives, other questions, thoughts and feelings were racing through his mind. Itachi was strong, but stronger than the whole clan? How did Itachi do it? How did he kill the whole clan and almost manage to abduct someone living in the Hokage's tower all in the same night?

Revenge was more important than ever, yet other issues surrounding it had also grown in importance as well. Above all else, Itachi _could not_ get his hands on Naruto. Sasuke would see to that.

XXXXX

As dinner came out at the Haruno household, Sakura found she was unable to eat. She simply sat there playing with her food. If her mother was Naruto's head caretaker, then why didn't she know anything about it?

Sakura's father couldn't take it anymore seeing his daughter just play with dinner as it cooled. The last time it happened, she and Ino had set aside their friendship. "Sweetie, what's the matter?"

"Mom, how come you never told me about Naruto?"

That did it. Dinner at the Haruno household officially stopped. Sakura's mother asked, "What do you want to know about Naruto?" Though Naruto no longer needed a caretaker, both parents were praying that this was not another security leak. The last time there was a leak, Sakura's mother found herself observing Ibiki questioning Naruto's nannies one after the other while Sakura's father had to assign assassination missions to kill runners heading to Earth Country to deliver the information that had been discovered. It was one of the tensest weeks in the lives of the Haruno's. Sakura's dad was one of the Hokage's personal assistants, someone who had been a special jounin in the Anbu, but could no longer perform ninja duties because of injuries received during the Kyuubi attack. He was the chief missions' distributor for Sandaime, and if he chose the wrong team for a mission, it could potentially be his head.

"Hokage-sama told me about his condition…" both parents visibly looked relieved, "Mom, why didn't you tell me that you were his caretaker?"

Sakura's mother sighed. "It had to be kept a secret. Most of the ladies who were assigned to help were civilians, and only a few people even knew who they were. If an enemy found out, they could easily impersonate one of the women and do something bad."

Sakura's father added, "That thing inside of him is dangerous. We can't let it get out. To this day I blame 'it'… I probably shouldn't tell you this, but most of us who know believe that 'it' is the incarnation of Kyuubi's evil. Just stay out of trouble and your team should be okay."

That night, Sakura couldn't help but dream that "it" escaped and killed her for all the times she hit Naruto when he asked her out. She knew it was silly, but she silently promised herself that she wouldn't hit Naruto anymore.

XXXXX

The sun's first light revealed Kakashi standing over the Fallen Heroes Memorial Stone just outside his favorite training grounds. Usually Kakashi would wake up at the crack of dawn and stay at the memorial for hours on end, arriving late to all his morning appointments, choosing instead to spend the time telling Obito, Arashi and Myobu – a woman who was almost a mother to him – of the events of the past day. It was an eccentric habit, but it was perhaps all that kept him sane.

Pain was etched across what was visible of his face. Being Naruto's sensei was sure to open up old wounds.

XXX Flashback XXX

Kakashi stood over the memorial stone, staring down at Obito's name_. 'It was my fault – my fault, damn it! Why? Why did you have to die for me when I failed as the team leader?'_

"Kakashi-kun, come on out of the rain, you'll catch a cold," a voice said from behind him.

"I don't care." His whole life he had acted so adult, so serious. At seven he had already made his first kill and he always followed orders to the letter. Now suddenly he just seemed so childish, as if making up for all the years he had lost.

"Well I do!"

Kakashi turned to look at the woman. _'Myobu, Sensei's wife.'_ She was so different from her older brother. Sure, like her brother she was obsessed with knowledge, though in her case it was seals, but in almost every other way she was different. Orochimaru always had a treacherous aura about him, a sadist lying in wait for the opportune moment to strike. He was cold in a sinister way. Myobu was social, and her idea of being sinister was to simultaneously glare and pout at Kakashi with one hand on her hip and the other maintaining a water technique over her head to keep the rain off of her.

"Weren't you the cute kid who always followed every rule to the letter?" Kakashi's eyes turned downcast. "Quit beating yourself up over it. Do you think Obito gave you that eye so that you could get caught moping about in the rain and catch pneumonia?" Kakashi raised his head and his visible eye widened before he shook his head. Myobu just gestured for him to come and so he did.

When he was promoted to jounin right before the mission, he felt like he had finally achieved the level of his sensei. Even if he was not nearly as strong, he was of equal rank and therefore equal in the chain of command, right? Oh how wrong he felt after he followed Myobu home. In Arashi's living room by the fireplace were all three Sannin, Arashi and Tsunade's still living at the time boyfriend Dan, who had not yet proposed. The five of them and the newcomer Myobu entered into a complicated technical discussion about seals that drove Kakashi's head through a loop.

XXX End Flashback XXX

There were four things he learned that night. The first was that his sensei and Jiraiya were far more brilliant than he had ever given them credit for even if they acted so silly. The second was what it meant to feel _mothered_, something he never knew since his own mother died due to complications shortly after childbirth. The third was that Orochimaru had a bizarre sense of protectiveness for family that ran so deep he was openly discussing the possibility of raising the dead in front of people who could easily get him in trouble for it just to entertain the possibility of seeing his mother and father again. The fourth and final thing he learned was that despite being a jounin, Kakashi himself was still just a brat.

When Arashi's own brat was cut loose on the world, he wanted to be there to give the child everything Arashi and Myobu gave him and more. He and Rin planned to adopt the baby.

But fate had other ideas. Even though the fault in the sealing was only known amongst those considered to be the most trusted shinobi, the following night after the Kyuubi attack there was an attempt on Naruto's life, by an experienced jounin no less. It quickly became clear that precautions had to be put in place to guard Naruto.

Rin had perhaps taken it even worse than Kakashi. Though they were both young teenagers, the moment she set eyes on the baby, Rin was eager for motherhood. However, neither Rin nor Kakashi had the battle experience needed to defend Naruto adequately. The thought was entertained of letting Naruto stay in the Uchiha compound, but then an _Uchiha_ had been _impersonated_ and the perpetrator had attempted to steal Naruto and take him to a foreign country, no doubt hoping to sell Naruto for a profit.

For one of the strongest among the Uchiha to be defeated and impersonated, it quickly became clear that only the very strongest of shinobi could defend Naruto.

Orochimaru would have been the first choice since he was the baby's last living relative, but around the same time he had begun experimenting on humans hoping to understand the nature of dark chakra – the name used for the chakra of gods since it is so strong it sticks together retaining its energy, giving off no light of its own and so dense that it absorbs all light shone upon it. Needless to say, none of the village leaders felt comfortable putting Naruto in Orochimaru's hands when they weren't even sure that Orochimaru's sanity remained intact.

The other two Sannin were also both elsewhere. Jiraiya was needed to maintain his spy network and would likely turn Naruto into a pervert anyway and Tsunade's fiancé Dan had died shortly before the war with Iwa ended and Arashi took office, so Tsunade had left Konoha, unable to bear the conscious burden of war. Sandaime wasn't even sure he could find Tsunade if he wanted to.

This meant that there was only one option: since there were no defenders strong enough to watch Naruto all the time, a rotation of shinobi would be needed to watch Naruto each for a part of the time. By rotating through them and keeping the schedules random, impersonation was much more difficult, since the impersonator would have to prepare for days or even weeks in advance making it more likely to be caught.

Meanwhile, Kakashi and Rin set themselves deep into training to become strong enough to defend Naruto.

However, soon it became clear that the entity inside Naruto was more developed than they at first imagined. Rin fled Konoha in search of knowledge, hoping to find a way to seal off the entity. She would later become known throughout the shinobi world for stealing important scrolls of seals. Occasionally she would mail in "reports" to the Hokage's office, always written in the same kind of code Myobu used to use for her notes (a code that only a handful of living people, all of whom trying to help Naruto, knew). Kakashi had wanted to chase after her. He almost felt empty with Naruto being his only day-to-day tie to the past. At the same time, it was exactly for that reason that he could not leave Naruto and exactly for that reason that if he wasn't going to be Naruto's sensei, he would have left Konoha in search of Rin – a fact he said in no uncertain words to the Hokage.

XXXXX

Promptly at seven in the morning, Kakashi met up with his team. On one hand he was happy – the fact that they were all here after hearing what the Hokage had to say yesterday was proof of their commitment. On the other hand, he was angry – where was Naruto's Anbu guard?

With Kakashi as Naruto's sensei, there would be no Anbu guard while Naruto was on duty. For that reason, Kakashi could not be late even by a minute to his designated appointments with his team. However, Kakashi was precisely on time and the Anbu should have shadowed Naruto to the training ground and made his presence known to Kakashi the moment he arrived on the scene. He would have to bring this up with the Hokage later.

Putting that aside, he eye-smiled at the gennin. "Good, you're all here."

Sasuke snorted and rebuked, "Why wouldn't we be?"

Both Naruto's and Sakura's eyes widened, but for different reasons – Naruto felt that for the first time he could say somebody was his friend, while Sakura, who had felt a distinct lack of confidence approaching the training grounds earlier, suddenly felt both a true unbiased wave of awe for her crush as well as an internal questioning of her prior lack of confidence. Both felt suddenly stronger.

Kakashi retained a lazy image through all of this. "Well, you know, a little bird told me the Hokage told you guys some interesting things yesterday and not everybody has the confidence of the Uchiha." Sasuke smiled smugly.

"Now with that out of the way, you guys pass!" Kakashi eye-smiled anew.

"Sensei? I wasn't aware that we were being tested," Sakura said confusedly.

"Well, it's just that…" Kakashi started, "When I tell you this you guys are definitely going to flip. Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will be chosen as gennin. The rest will be sent back to the academy."

All three gennin dead-panned. "But sensei," Sakura said, "didn't you just say we passed?"

"Correct."

"What the hell! I don't get it," Naruto commented for the first time, "We worked so hard. What was the point of graduating if only nine of us become gennin?"

"Oh, that?" Kakashi answered, "That was just to see who has the skill to become a gennin."

It was Sasuke's turn to ask a question: "And why do we pass when we haven't done anything?"

"Oh? But you have done something. You're all here, aren't you?" Kakashi eye-smiled almost mockingly.

The three gennin clearly didn't get it.

"The answer to the test was teamwork," Kakashi elaborated.

Still confused, Sakura asked, "Teamwork?"

"Yes, teamwork. In the field, a rookie gennin no matter how strong will always lose to higher level opponents." Sasuke scowled indignantly at Kakashi's remark, which Kakashi ignored. "The answer is teamwork. If one gennin takes on a jounin or even a chuunin, they have no hope of achieving victory, but in a team of three, the gennin have a chance to overcome even a high ranking jounin."

Kakashi started walking back to where he originally was at the memorial, motioning for the three gennin to follow. "Normally I would test you by pitting you against each other and deciding to pass you or not based on your willingness to work together as a team. But yesterday the Hokage gave you information that would automatically set you against one member of the team. Your willingness to show up as a team is enough to show that you are willing to work as a team. If I gave you the test now, you would pass for sure."

Kakashi stopped in front of the stone, the three gennin stopping behind him. "On this stone is carved the names of heroes that died in battle. My best friend's name is on this stone. He died because of a failure in teamwork."

All was silent after that.

XXXXX

When it came down to it, Kakashi was considered to be one of the lousiest jounin instructors available. He had never passed a team, and even if he had ever done so before, people would have thought his lazy habits would rub off on his gennin. This was why some of the jounin questioned Sandaime's sanity for making Kakashi the squad leader for both the last Uchiha – one of the most promising gennin of the generation – and the vessel, who undoubtedly needed special care. They likely wouldn't pass, and if they did, they likely wouldn't receive the attention that was expected to be given to them.

Kakashi himself had shot down all the arguments. He was the only person who could properly defend Naruto. Rin wouldn't hurt Kakashi, Orochimaru probably wouldn't and even though Itachi would, Kakashi was the only person with a Sharingan developed enough to have resistance against Itachi's eyes. But he was also the only person who could train Sasuke to use the eyes as well as he himself did.

All remaining doubt was cast aside when Kakashi showed up on time for the jounin squad leader meeting to announce that he had passed his team. They were even further surprised to discover that he had already begun training them in chakra control – something which no doubt both boys needed, and further, chakra control exercises force the body to release chakra constantly and smoothly, which is an effective way to develop stamina that would aid the girl.

Since Kakashi did not have a test planned for his gennin, he started them with tree climbing – handless tree climbing. Naruto was the only one of the three who had seen the exercise before, but he was a long way away from mastering it. The reality of the situation was that Naruto had been working on his chakra control for years. It was difficult to control the Kyuubi's chakra and almost impossible to control the dark chakra, but if Naruto could manage, then he could guarantee victory over the third being residing within him, the "Dark God," as it was called.

He worked them for six hours, until the start of his meeting. By that time, Sakura lay at the base of her tree too exhausted to continue; Sasuke had managed to make it half way up a good sized tree; and Naruto had several clones working simultaneously with him – since clones split chakra evenly, they too receive some of the Kyuubi's chakra and dark chakra, though only that amount which was actively flowing through Naruto's chakra coils when he generated the clones – the clones making it as far as a third of the way up decent sized trees, while the original Naruto could make it no further than a few meters, impressive relative to the size of the tree, which was well over twenty meters (twenty meters being 66 feet).

XXXXX

"Damn it," Naruto cursed in his sleep, "Damn it, damn it, damn it. Was that all I can do?"

Within his mindscape, Kyuubi walked up next to him in her human form. A resounding smack echoed through the darkest parts of Naruto's mind as she slapped him upside the head, completely ignoring the pain that the seal reflected back onto her.

Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "Ow, what was that for?"

"**Idiot,"** she said, **"if chakra control were that easy for you, then you would already have won. Once you learn how to control the dark chakra, you can strip **_**him**_** of his power."**

A figure appeared out of the darkness within Naruto's mind**. "But that's the thing, isn't it? You never will be able to control my chakra. I can even **_**let**_** you try and you will fail. After all, you're only human." **He looked almost identical to Naruto except that he possessed eerie black eyes and bore no whisker marks on his cheeks. In truth, he had no gender, but since he would be taking Naruto's body in due time, he would always take Naruto's form within the mindscape.

Kyuubi growled at the newcomer, but made no move. Naruto shouted, "Shut up!"

The god-in-the-making merely laughed. **"You won't win, Uzumaki Naruto. You're running out of time, but even if you had an eternity you could not ever win. I am, after all, a god."**

XXXXX

**AN: This chapter mainly filled in some details. I'll try to make the next chapter a bit longer as we may see the team's first real mission. No, it won't be the Wave arc. That arc just doesn't really fit in nicely with my storyline. We won't see Naruto leave Konoha until after the chuunin exams, which will also play out differently.**

**I know lots of you guys out there are waiting for chapter 4 of NotS. Don't worry, it's coming along. I've been having a bit of writer's block. Or well, not entirely writer's block, but I keep thinking up new ideas that just don't work well in either of these stories. That said, I don't plan on publishing any other stories until these two are much further along.**

**Q and A.**

**Q: What's up with the letter to Sasuke from his mom?**

**A: She knew that the clan was being exterminated. She knew more than she was letting on and she hid the letter in the Monopoly set because she knew Sasuke would brood.**

**Q: What does Naruto wear?**

**A: All characters are dressed the same as canon. You'll find out why Naruto wears orange in the next chapter.**

**Q: What significance does the name "Myobu" have?**

**A: In Japanese folklore, it is the name of a fox deity as well as a name that is commonly associated with celestial foxes, messengers of the deity Inari. While foxes are widely known as tricksters, in Japanese mythology they also sometimes represent faithful lovers. Here's an excerpt from the Wikipedia page for Kitsune: **_**"**__**Kitsune**__**is the Japanese word for fox. Foxes are a common subject of Japanese folklore. Stories depict them as intelligent beings and as possessing magical abilities that increase with their age and wisdom. Foremost among these is the ability to assume human form. While some folktales speak of kitsune employing this ability to trick others — as foxes in folklore often do — others portray them as faithful guardians, friends, lovers, and wives."**_

**Q: Kyuubi not in her cage?**

**A: You'll find out either next chapter or the chapter after.**


	3. Preparations

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto. It is owned by Kishimoto Masashi and published by Jump Comics.

**Warning:** This story is rated T for violence, language and potential sexual situations.

**Feedback:** You can review anonymously. Please feel free to give me your input through review or private message. I read all the feedback I get. I only ask that you do not make demands and do not flame.

"Character speech"

'_Character thoughts'_

"**Demon or large summon speech or jutsu name announced"**

'_**Demon or large summon thoughts or jutsu name thought'**_

**AN: Back with another chapter. Things are going to start picking up from here on out. I know it's been about a month since I updated this story, but updates should come quicker for awhile now. Also, NotS will have an update released sometime over the weekend for sure.**

XXXXX

**Dark God**

**Chapter 3 – Preparations**

XXXXX

"DIE!" A sword swung down at Naruto, whooshing through the air.

_Cling!_ The sword hummed ominously as Naruto caught it between his left thumb and forefinger. The man's eyes widened in fear, as he suddenly realized that his assassination attempt was going to end in failure. He was foolish to accept a job inside a hidden village. He should have known better, but the price that he had been offered was too phenomenal to ignore. What could go wrong? The boy was only six, right? He had laughed about that earlier. Now, he wasn't so sure.

Black eyes opened, staring ominously at the would-be assassin. An insane grin marred Naruto's features. **"What's the matter? Cat got your tongue? Or should I ask, god got your sword?"** An insane laugh filled the room.

The assassin peed himself. _'This is not happening, this is not happening…'_ Sadly, it was, and the internal chanting of that mantra would do nothing to change the situation.

Naruto's grin widened. "Wh-what are you?" The man's knees started shaking, and if at all possible, Naruto's grin widened further still.

Then the grin faded completely. A massive killer intent poured forth. A shuffling could be heard as Anbu and the Hokage worked to bust down the door the assassin had placed a powerful seal on. Little had he realized that rather than keeping Naruto in a cage, the sealed door kept _him_ in a cage with a beast.

Shouts resounded through the Hokage's tower, but the man could hear none of it now. Even as the door was blasted open, all the man could hear was the beating of his own heart and all that he could feel was the fist of a child crushing said organ. He watched as his own heart was pulled from his chest and then everything went black.

XXXXX

Naruto shot up in bed. _That_ dream again, that memory of the past.

Shakily, Naruto rose his right hand, staring at it, curling his fingers just as they had been curled six years ago, moments before he crushed the man's heart. Even now he could see the blood on them, blood that was no longer there.

"**Shhhh,"** a voice came from within him. **"It's alright, Naruto-kun. It was only a dream."**

'_I know, but…'_ he thought back.

"**You did nothing wrong,"** Kyuubi chided. **"It was **_**him**_**,"** she spat.

'_I know, but…'_

"**Idiot!"** Naruto landed in his mindscape only to be smacked on the back of his head.

"Hey! What was that for?" Kyuubi giggled at Naruto's sudden change in emotion. "It's not funny!" She pouted; he turned away and held his nose up. She started laughing openly at his antics; he joined her laughing.

Suddenly she drew him into a hug. **"Naruto-kun, don't push yourself too hard."**

Naruto stiffened, and then melted into her arms.

XXXXX

Once again at seven in the morning, Kakashi met his three students, greeting them with a simple, "Yo," in his usual lazy tone. As if on cue, a bush rustled just off the edge of the training ground, signifying that the Anbu shadowing Naruto had left.

"Sensei, what kind of training are we having today," Sakura asked.

Kakashi lazily scratched the side of his head with his right hand. "I was thinking we'd go shopping."

The three gennin dead-panned. "Shopping? What does that have to do with anything," Naruto demanded.

Sasuke couldn't help but agree. "Wouldn't we be better off working on our ninja skills?"

Sakura said nothing, caught up in an internal battle. _'Shopping, woohoo! Take that Ino-pig! I get to go shopping with Sasuke-kun! He can help me pick out clothes and… but Naruto and Sasuke-kun are right, shouldn't we be working on our ninja skills?' _Outwardly, Sakura asked, "What kind of training is that?"

Kakashi smiled at the reactions of his students, drawing his visible eye shut into the crinkled look known to many as the "eye-smile." If there was one thing Kakashi enjoyed more than Icha Icha Paradise, it was stringing people along – a habit that many good ninjas possessed, though none more than Sasuke's elder brother Itachi. "Clothes shopping; it's important in the field that you wear the right kinds of clothing. All three of you are wearing outfits fine for training purposes, but in the field, all of you would get hurt. For instance, you Sakura are wearing bright colors that stand out when you hide, giving away your position. You also have your legs and arms uncovered, making them easy to damage. Even you, Sasuke, have a lot of your body uncovered, and your tee-shirt is made of thin material for aeration, but that material is easy to shred with a kunai."

Sakura blushed embarrassedly, but Sasuke took in the criticism of his outfit in stride – he already knew this and he had battle accessories that he could add to his outfit to provide additional protection, such as thick, ninja bandages and forearm guards.

Sasuke turned his attention to Naruto and grinned. "Finally going to get rid of the orange jumpsuit?"

Sasuke was expecting to get rise out of Naruto, but was surprised instead to find a frown mar Naruto's face. Kakashi frowned as well and replied in Naruto's stead, "There's a reason why Naruto always wears bright colors. Because of the possibility of people trying to kidnap Naruto, Hokage-sama made it a regulation for Naruto to wear bright colors whenever inside Konoha's walls. The Anbu guards all chipped in to have the orange jumpsuits custom made for Naruto on his tenth birthday."

The group stood in silence for a moment, absorbing that information.

XXXXX

Kakashi strolled somewhat briskly down the streets. Naruto practically jogged to keep next to the man, while Sasuke followed from behind, with Sakura hanging on to him. Even though the dynamic of the group had changed dramatically since the Hokage's little "talk" with Sasuke and Sakura, it was a somewhat relieving thing for Naruto that the dynamic was a bit closer now to how it had been while they were at the academy. It was not that Naruto minded getting the attention and recognition, but there was a certain hesitance in the air, not so much out of fear of Naruto but fear for him, that they might say or do the wrong thing, or that Naruto could get hurt, killed or captured, and an especial wariness that someone like Itachi or Orochimaru might just appear seemingly out of the blue for whatever reasons they might have. To say the least, that thought was not comforting.

Naruto was not at all a genius, but he was smarter than people generally took him to be. Yes, people would recognize that he could be introspective, but half the time Naruto was striving for attention, wanting to be viewed as "just Naruto" rather than the "Kyuubi vessel" or the "boy whose body may be taken over by a god." Despite Naruto's feelings for Kyuubi, as a friend and possibly more, a clear majority of his heart wished that the Kyuubi attack never happened and that he could have his mother and his father alive. His uncle and Rin would never have run off, and perhaps Itachi would not have killed the Uchiha clan looking for a way to become a god himself. And most of all, though Naruto knew it was selfish thinking, he could have had a normal life where people looked at him as just a normal child and treated him like one. Instead, he was pitied, scorned, admired, hated and feared all at the same time.

Naruto, more intelligent than most people believed, could easily recognize these different emotions even as people looked at him from behind his back. So for Naruto, it was a great wonder why his team was going shopping today, of all days. It was their second day together as a team and Kakashi had even said explicitly that they would not be doing missions until their training had come along further, and they certainly would not be leaving the village. Thus, Naruto would have to remain in his orange jumpsuits, which he both loved and loathed at the same time.

"Kakashi-sensei," Naruto spoke. Kakashi's eye shifted, catching Naruto's expression in it more clearly. "Why are we going shopping… I mean, why today. We're not going to be leaving the village for awhile, are we?"

Kakashi smiled at the intelligence of his student's remark. "That's correct, but it can't hurt to take care of this now." Naruto frowned a bit, displaying his dissatisfaction with the answer. Kakashi added, "Sakura may seem alright, but her movements are a bit sluggish today, and based on those shadows under your eyes, it seems you had some bad dreams last night, yes?"

Naruto's eyes widened almost imperceptibly; Kakashi's answer caught him off guard. It was indeed true that Naruto had nightmares – more specifically memories that he wish he could forget – over the coruse of the night, but Naruto had not realized that the shadows under his eyes were substantial enough for others to notice, nor could he figure out how Kakashi knew the particular reason for his current condition.

Kakashi smiled. "The Anbu on guard last night reported a startled gasp from your room last night and noticed you panting in bed when he investigated."

Naruto blushed embarrassedly, but didn't get a chance to respond as Kakashi spoke again, "Ah, we're here."

The store in front of them had a sign that said "Sword, Scroll and Kunai." Naruto had been there once before, the Toushou family owned weapon's shop. Sakura had never been there before as her father always brought home her ninja supplies and Sasuke of course had access to the Uchiha stores, though most the ninja apparel there was for larger people, specifically, adults.

The three students stood outside for a moment, eyeing the store while Kakashi idly walked in, causing a bell to jingle a few times. Sasuke made a sound that came out like "Hn" before following Kakashi in. Sakura chased after him with a subdued squeal of "Sasuke-kun." Naruto chuckled and followed them in as well.

Inside the store, they were greeted by a somewhat burly middle-aged man. "Kakashi-san, what can I do for ya?"

"Yo," Kakashi replied back in his usual manner, "I'm here to get these three out-fitted."

"Ah," the man said, looking them over. Sasuke came into the man's view first. The elder Toushou gave Sasuke an appraising look, before nodding – Sasuke's outfit was fairly standard for an Uchiha, and only mild adjustments to his wardrobe would be necessary, starting with longer, shinobi type pants, most likely a dark gray color, not much unlike the clothing made for Itachi when the elder Uchiha brother was only seven years old and already taking missions where he would face enemy shinobi.

Toushou turned his attention to Sakura and bit back on a grimace. The red dress would have to go. It was fine for training since it did not hinder movements in any way, but in the field it would give away her hiding spot, screaming "kill me." However, changing her clothing was the least of his worries. Sakura's natural hair color was pink, and while the girl's hair was most certainly beautiful, it would hinder her stealth abilities. Few guys had problems covering their hair, but it was difficult to get a girl to wear a hat or even a bandana to cover their hair – girl's at that age are more often concerned with beauty than ninjutsu, and "hat hair" would be a big "no no" in the girl's eyes.

Finally Toushou turned to the last gennin and his eyes widened. It was through the Toushoi shop that Naruto's jump suits were ordered, so of course the man knew of the rules pertaining to Naruto's clothing.

Toushou turned his attention back to Kakashi, "You do realize the rules…"

Kakashi waved a hand dismissively. "I just want them to be prepared for when we do take our first mission outside Konoha."

Toushou nodded. "Very well, feel free to browse. Sasuke is it?" Sasuke nodded in recognition of being called. "I think I've got the right thing for you already. Then we'll work on your two friends there."

Sakura went right over to the clothes racks and a horrified expression covered her face. "Sensei, the colors are all so bland!"

Kakashi scratched his head confusedly. Sakura was most likely the smartest girl her age. "Isn't that the point?"

Sakura shook her head. "I mean… the only colors here are dark green, dark blue, gray and black. What about, like, dark red?"

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully. "We can ask Toushou-san when he gets back."

Right as Kakashi said that, an orange blur shot past both him and Sakura on the way to the changing room.

Meanwhile, in the back of the store, Toushou fished through a rack of dark gray colored pants. Finally he grabbed out a pair that seemed to be the right size. "Try this on," he said, "many Uchiha used to get pants like these back before…" the man shook his head, deciding it would be bad to press the point, "well anyway, just try these on."

Sasuke grabbed the pants and walked off to the changing room located in the back of the shop wordlessly. Not even a full minute later he reappeared, the pants in his hands. Toushou scratched his head nervously. "Don't like 'em?"

Sasuke just said, "I'll take them," before walking back to the front of the store.

Toushou looked bewildered for a second before shrugging and following Sasuke out to the front. _'He's harder to understand than my daughter…'_

Putting back on a "friendly face," which for the ninja accessory salesman meant a face that wasn't creepy looking, asked out, "Who is next?"

Right as those words were spoken, the changing room adjacent to the front of the shop burst open and Naruto announced his presence loudly, "Tada! Uzumaki Naruto has arrived!"

He was sporting dark blue shinobi pants identical to Kakashi's, only smaller, and similarly taped at the ankles. For a shirt, he was wearing a matching dark blue long sleeve tee-shirt with the sleeves pushed back to just below the elbow. On the shoulders of his shirt were red spiral insignias and on the front was a larger red spiral. He wore his forehead protector with the fabric pulled out into the shape of a bandana, obscuring most of his locks of bright blonde hair, though a few insisted on spiking out from underneath and from behind, spikes of gold were still visible.

Toushou chuckled at Naruto's antic, while Sakura whistled approvingly – Naruto actually did look pretty good, though she admitted to herself that he'd need a vest to complete the look, something not given to gennin. Kakashi simply smiled while Sasuke looked almost like his usual self, barring an almost imperceptible upward curl to his lips.

"Well now," Toushou said, "I guess that just leaves the lady. What will you be having?"

For the second time within the past five minutes, before anyone could answer a new arrival caused a distraction. "Tou-san, I'm home," a girl's voice called out as the doorbell jingled.

A girl with two hair buns on her head strode into view. "Hey darling, how was your day?"

Stifling a yawn, the girl responded, "Tiring. I haven't seen these guys around before, are they rookie gennin?"

"Yeah," Naruto loudly responded, "I'm Uzumaki Naruto!"

Tenten smiled at Naruto's boisterous display. "I'm Tenten." She held out a hand, which Naruto shook.

For a second Naruto looked as if he were "done" speaking, but then his face lit up in realization. "Oh, this is Sakura-chan and Sasuke! They're my teammates."

Sakura smiled sweetly, "Pleased to meet you Tenten-san." Sasuke added a "Hn" in support.

Tenten's smile faltered for a moment before she placed it back on. _'He's as cold as Neji.'_

"Right," Toushou spoke, clapping his hands together, "Well let's get you suited up little miss, shall we?"

"I was wondering…" Sakura asked, "Do you have anything in dark red?"

Toushou's hand rubbed the bottom of his jaw in thought. "You know, I think I've got just the thing."

XXXXX

It had been a month since the formation of Team Seven. During that time, Naruto finally progressed to the point where he could climb to the top of a tree using chakra. Sakura, after finishing the exercise, had been put to work to increase her physical ability by practicing taijutsu against a log. Sasuke finished the exercise after three additional days of training and then began practicing his taijutsu as well, though he was already at a high level in that art. That left Naruto to continue training for an additional two weeks in chakra control. Ultimately, with a little help from Kyuubi, Naruto was able to discover that while his own chakra was too thin to balance out any instability in the dark entity's chakra, the Kyuubi's chakra was just barely thick enough to manage the task. Thus, while it was difficult to control Kyuubi's chakra in such a precise manner, Naruto was able to manage the task, though with some difficulty. It would still be some time before Naruto would be able to subconsciously perform that task.

After Naruto finished the exercise, the team began work in basic D-rank missions, such as chasing the daimyo's cat Tora around the training grounds of Konoha. While the missions were hardly useful for learning, Kakashi had all three gennin wearing their weights while participating, thus getting in a workout.

Sakura was consistently the most exhausted from her work, but with her very high level chakra control, if she were able to build up sufficient stamina, then she could easily make herself a strong support-type kunoichi.

Naruto had consistently the most energy, but his progress in chakra control, though tedious, would in the end make him potentially the most powerful shinobi in existence. With the chakra of the "Dark God" under his belt, Naruto's power levels would be far higher than the theoretical human limit. The dark chakra possessed by the entity did not affect the human body in the normal manner, and thus could run through a human body in theoretically infinite quantities.

Though he was the strongest going into the development of the team, Sasuke was only continuing to grow stronger than the other two. Naruto's slow progress in chakra control meant that Sakura and Sasuke had a lot of free time to train in other areas, but Sakura had to dedicate that time to increasing her strength, speed and stamina, which often left Sasuke to spar with Kakashi. The battle experience gained was causing Sasuke to develop impressively and the tingling sensation he was feeling in his eyes was an indication that his Sharingan was getting ready to activate.

The three gennins headed towards the Hokage's tower hoping that they could weasel their way out of doing yet another pointless mission. Since he completed the chakra control exercise, Naruto would now also get a chance to spar with Sasuke, or perhaps even learn a new technique.

The three gennins were side by side, Sasuke in the middle, with Naruto on his right and Sakura on his left. Kakashi was behind them, reading his perverted little book, but before the three could climb the steps leading up the tower, they were called out.

"Oi, you guys! It's been a long time!" Kiba hurried over in a half joke, half walk. Shino and Hinata trailed behind him. "What have you guys been doing? We've been getting pretty strong."

"Pft," Sasuke replied, "You seem confident." Though on the inside Sasuke was curious to see how the other teams had progressed over the past month, he was quite confident that he was stronger, and displayed those feelings outwardly, dismissively looking away from Kiba as if he were unimportant.

"We've worked hard," Kiba growled out. "We won't lose to you."

"Is that so?" Naruto stepped forward.

"Kiba-kun didn't mean anything," Hinata barely whispered out.

Kakashi had moments ago been ready to step in and intervene, but Naruto totally defused the tension. "Eh, Hinata, did you say something?"

Hinata blushed and poked her fingers together, too embarrassed to reply. Kiba frowned, but then smiled viciously. "Well, we're about to go kill that cat, right, Akamaru?" The small dog growled and then barked in response. Hinata frowned, while the others, including Shino even, sported savage grins.

"Kiba," Team Eight's jounin-sensei Yuuhi Kurenai chastised, "We don't kill our client's cat!"

Kiba grumbled in response and walked away, trying to figure out a way to make the death of Tora appear accidental. Shino shrugged and then followed. Team Seven continued on and only Hinata was left, watching the backs of the two boys from Sakura's team, wishing she could be change with the other girl. The aura of those two boys just standing side by side like that was almost staggering for shinobi of that level. It was clear to Hinata that they would go far and she desperately wished she could say the same for herself – if nothing else, it would relieve the tension her father placed on her shoulders. She particularly liked Naruto; she, Sasuke and Naruto all carried an inner sadness, but while Sasuke hid his behind an arrogant smirk and she hid hers by making herself invisible, Naruto could brush it all off completely with nothing more than a goofy grin. She longed for that mysterious ability.

"Oi, Hinata!" Kiba shouted, "Are you coming or not? Don't tell me you're turning into one of Sasuke's fan-girls!"

Hinata blushed; embarrassed at being caught staring at the boys from Team Seven, though secretly thankful that Kiba was ignorant enough to believe that it was Sasuke she was looking at.

XXXXX

Team Seven stood in front of a long desk, or rather, a series of desks connected to each other. In front of them was the Sandaime Hokage and next to Sandaime was Iruka, who was helping to distribute missions.

"Ah, Team Seven, I have a special assignment picked out for you," the aged Hokage spoke. Even Sasuke's face betrayed him as he and the other two gennin looked on with hope at what their mission would be. Kakashi raised an eyebrow, knowing that this would not be a simple D-rank mission.

Sandaime pulled a scroll out of his robe. "Your mission, C-rank," he said.

Iruka's eyes widened. "H-Hokage-sama! You can't possibly be thinking of giving them a C-rank mission already! They aren't ready!"

The Hokage looked somewhat amused and held up a hand in a weak dismissive gesture. "It's quite alright; I picked this mission out especially for Team Seven. It's a C-rank mission in Training Area Forty-Four. Anko, you can come in now."

A door behind the gennin slid open and a lady with dark purple hair, almond brown eyes, a round face and curvy body, barely hid behind a mini-skirt and a long tan trench coat, stepped out into the room. "Are these the brats that are going to help me?"

XXXXX

Karin paced back and forth nervously in a grungy, barely lit room. Normally she enjoyed her time spent with Orochimaru greatly – and aside from Kabuto and Kimimaro she was perhaps the only who could say that. But enjoying Orochimaru's presence was difficult for the pre-teen girl to do while in the presence of Juugo. The older boy was an imposing enough figure on his own, but he held a naturally occurring version of the Cursed Seal. It was from Juugo that Orochimaru had developed the enzymes from which the "Cursed Seal" was formed.

Few could hold the claim that they sought out Orochimaru willingly. Juugo was one of them. Besides other complications, the Cursed Seal seemed to take root in the mind of the individual, and when activated, it would cause the user to go into an uncontrollable bloodlust. Those who were physically weak would often die just from receiving an injection of the enzymes to make the seal, and only those who were truly strong could control the seal at all. However, even the strong have their limits, and the longer the seal was held active, the more the user would lose his or herself to it.

In other words, it was a two-edged sword, a device that could give a massive infusion of power, but at great cost – not only the bloodlust, but a corruption of the very essence of the soul, through which the Cursed Seal would establish itself, almost like a second conscience. And if that conscience were to take over even for a fleeting instance, the user would be lost to it for ever.

As strong as Juugo was, he was pretty far lost to the effects of the seal, not because he abused its powers as others did, but because he was born with the seal and it would activate on its own whenever he was placed under great emotional duress.

Nervous pacing was all Karin could do as she waited "patiently" for her master. The stress of merely being in the same room as Juugo was not at all relieved by his constant mumblings either. A mantra seemed to be playing in Juugo's mind. "I don't want to kill anymore, I don't want to kill anymore, I don't want to…"

Finally the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway towards the meeting area. How it was that Orochimaru could stand to have meeting areas look more like catacombs than offices was beyond Karin's comprehension, but she never was one to complain about it.

The door creaked open. Orochimaru entered followed by Kimimaro. The tension in the air from Juugo's barely suppressed killer intent seemed to drop completely; it was well known that Kimimaro was capable of subduing Juugo and the two older boys seemed to have both feelings of understanding and companionship between each other. Karin let out a breath she never even realized that she was holding.

The words Orochimaru spoke bewildered the two who had originally presided over the room. "I'm entering you three as a gennin team for the chuunin exams five months from now in my home village… Konoha."

Karin felt the need to protest, but was cut-off by Juugo. "Orochima—"

Orochimaru held up a hand. "I'm sure you are already aware of why I have such… great interest in the Cursed Seal. That is why I'm sending you three to the chuunin exams. Karin-chan, you are to compare the chakra of Juugo's original Cursed Seal with the chakra of a certain boy, and also you three have a mission to find possible lab rats for the future, individuals capable of surviving the Cursed Seal."

Karin asked, "Who is this boy that interests you?"

Orochimaru held out a photograph. "That's the boy and his team."

Karin's jaw dropped in surprise as she studied the four faces on the photograph. Her lips then curled into a gentle smile. "Cousin…"

Karin placed the photograph on a bench behind her and then hurried out of the room. On that bench was a photograph of Team Seven.

XXXXX

**AN: So far, I've been unsatisfied with the way the dialogue has come out in chapter 5 of NotS, so it's taking a bit longer than originally anticipated. But, have no fear. I'll post it by the end of the weekend even if I'm not entirely happy with it.**

**Toushou translates into "sword smith" in English, which makes it a suitable last name for Tenten's family. An alternative translation is "sword cut," which also is fairly suitable. **

**As you can see, this chapter really was for setting the stage for the upcoming action. Next chapter will already be the group's first C-rank mission, and you'll learn a bit more about Kyuubi. I meant to give her a bigger part in this chapter, but in the end I decided to spread out her character development over more chapters.**

**I originally wasn't planning on adding Hinata to this chapter, but I thought it would be a good idea to show her feelings towards Naruto upfront. Yes, she has a crush on him, though it's not quite as large as in the manga. She won't be fainting every time he's around. She sees herself as in some senses a kindred spirit to Naruto and Sasuke as well – they all house an inner sadness. In Hinata's case, it's the sadness caused by her own family. That said, her family problems are not one of the recurring themes in this story. I'd say more, but I don't want to give too much away.**

**Sakura developed a little more like you'd see in canon this time. She definitely still is a Sasuke fan-girl, though unlike in the manga where she needed Sasuke to leave in order to truly get serious about ninjutsu, recognizing the seriousness of Naruto's situation has already caused her to make the first step towards developing as a true ninja.**

**Pairings.**** Sorry, but unlike in my other story, **_**if**_** I do a pairing, then I already know which one it will be. I say 'if' because I'm not sure if romance will play a part in this story. I definitely can take it down that alley, but I'm aiming more for action and suspense than romance.**

**If there's a pairing it will be Naru/femKyu. Romance between Naruto and Hinata would just be tossing another character into the thick of things needlessly (she doesn't relate to Akatsuki, Orochimaru, or the DG, so a relationship between her and Naruto would have no action-based plot value to speak of). He already has Kyuubi as his light in the darkness and she is someone who already plays a huge role in both the internal struggle and the external struggle, which makes her the only true candidate for romance. I am unsure **_**if**_** there will be any romance at all or if they will be very close friends with possible implied romantic feelings.**

**Kyuubi in this story is somewhat inspired by Ruby from 666 Satan. I may even draw quotes from that manga at some point in time. Similarly, this particular Naruto is influenced, though to a lesser extent, by Jio from 666 Satan.**

**A harem is not an option for this story. This story revolves strictly speaking around the DG and developing a harem would totally annihilate my attempts at making this story suspenseful. **


	4. ANNOUNCEMENT

_**ANNOUNCEMENT**_

I already stated in my profile that this fiction is on hiatus. Of my three posted stories, this is definitely the most unique and arguably the one with the most potential. I do not feel my current writing is giving this story the justice it deserves.

At some point, I will strip this story offline and post the new, so don't be surprised if this story suddenly gets deleted; that will happen in response to me getting ready to put up the new. Yes, I plan to delete the current story rather than simply replacing chapters because I will make major changes to the storyline, but not the underlying plot, author's universe, or characterizations.

Obviously anyone who has read this far in already will know quite a bit of the storyline that I probably won't reveal right away in the revised version.

Thank you for your patience and I hope to see you all around when I redo this story!


End file.
